Smutsia Explained

Smutsia ("Smuts's animal") or African ground pangolin is a genus of pangolins from subfamily Smutsiinae within family Manidae.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]} It was formerly considered a subgenus of genus Manis. Its members are the more terrestrial of the African pangolins.^[5] In the past, this genus was also present in Europe.^[6]

Etymology

British naturalist John Edward Gray named Smutsia for South African naturalist Johannes Smuts (1808–1869),^{[7] [8]} the first South African to write a treatise on mammals in 1832 (in which he described the species Manis temminckii).

Description

The Smutsia species can be easily distinguished due to a layer of protective horny scales covering their long streamlined bodies, small cone-shaped heads, and thick tails. Resembling artichoke leaves, the scales are composed of fused hairs. When threatened, members of the species roll into an impenetrable ball, leaving the sharp, yellow-brown scales exposed to the predator.

Diet and nutrition

Ground pangolins are carnivorous animals which mainly eat termites and ants, though larvae and other soft-bodied insects are also consumed on occasion.

Mating life

Ground pangolins reach sexual maturity at around 5–7 years of age. The species is described as polygynous: one male will mate with multiple females, but females tend to mate with only a single male. The gestation period lasts for 139 days, with each pregnancy yielding a single offspring. Mothers and their young shelter underground until the pups reach 2 to 4 weeks of age, at which stage they are carried outside the nest, though they remain with their mothers for 3 months.

Taxonomy

Phylogeny

Phylogenetic position of genus Smutsia within family Manidae based on Wangmo (2025.) study:

See also

• Mammal classification
• Manidae

Notes and References

1. Gaudin . Timothy . 2009 . The Phylogeny of Living and Extinct Pangolins (Mammalia, Pholidota) and Associated Taxa: A Morphology Based Analysis . Journal of Mammalian Evolution . Springer Science+Business Media . Heidelberg, Germany . 16 . 4 . 235–305 . 10.1007/s10914-009-9119-9 . 1773698 . 2020-12-20 . 2015-09-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150925134257/http://web2.utc.edu/~gvv824/Gaudin%20et%20al%202009.pdf .
2. Kondrashov . Peter . Agadjanian . Alexandre K. . A nearly complete skeleton of Ernanodon (Mammalia, Palaeanodonta) from Mongolia: morphofunctional analysis . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 32 . 5 . 2012 . 0272-4634 . 10.1080/02724634.2012.694319 . 983–1001. 2012JVPal..32..983K . 86059673 .
3. Philippe Gaubert, Agostinho Antunes, Hao Meng, Lin Miao, Stéphane Peigné, Fabienne Justy, Flobert Njiokou, Sylvain Dufour, Emmanuel Danquah, Jayanthi Alahakoon, Erik Verheyen, William T Stanley, Stephen J O'Brien, Warren E Johnson, Shu-Jin Luo (2018) "The Complete Phylogeny of Pangolins: Scaling Up Resources for the Molecular Tracing of the Most Trafficked Mammals on Earth" Journal of Heredity, Volume 109, Issue 4, Pages 347–359
4. Sean P. Heighton, Rémi Allio, Jérôme Murienne, Jordi Salmona, Hao Meng, Céline Scornavacca, Armanda D. S. Bastos, Flobert Njiokou, Darren W. Pietersen, Marie-Ka Tilak, Shu-Jin Luo, Frédéric Delsuc, Philippe Gaubert (2023.) "Pangolin genomes offer key insights and resources for the world's most trafficked wild mammals"
5. du Toit . Z. . du Plessis . M. . Dalton . D. L. . Jansen . R. . Paul Grobler . J. . Kotzé . A. . Mitochondrial genomes of African pangolins and insights into evolutionary patterns and phylogeny of the family Manidae . BMC Genomics . 18 . 1 . 2017 . 746 . 10.1186/s12864-017-4140-5 . 28934931 . 5609056 . free.
6. Web site: Two-Million-Year-Old Pangolin Fossil Found in Romania | Sci.News . 12 January 2022.
7. Web site: S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science [Johannes Smuts] ]. May 28, 2018.
8. Palmer . T.S. . 1904 . Index Generum Mammalium: a List of the Genera and Families of Mammals . North American Fauna . 23 . 635 . 10.3996/nafa.23.0001 . free.